Slytherins are (*not* ) bad (was:Re: Severus as friend)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 183331

> Betsy Hp:
> And that's what makes me cringe.  In the end, Slytherin is 
> the "racist house."And I mean, it really truly is, I'm not trying 
> to argue (anymore *g*) that JKR was cleverly pointing out the ease
of  falling into prejudice and stereotype by setting up an easy to
fall into prejudice and stereotype that "all Slytherin's are bad --
born  that way, don't you know."  

Pippin: 

*Of course* it's not prejudiced to say that Slytherin    c. 1997 was 
a racist house, just as  few would think it  prejudiced to say that
the US, c. 1789, was a racist country. 

But surely it would be wrong, and prejudiced, and stereotyping, to say
that early Americans  must have been innately, equally, permanently or
uniquely racist.

Canon shows that Slytherin was a racist house. But it also
demonstrates that its racism was not unique (young Dumbledore), equal
in degree (Slughorn), permanent (Snape) or inborn (Riddle.) The
tendency to prejudice may be innate to humans, but what in canon
shows that Slytherins are innately more prejudiced than other people? 
 

"The Good Slytherin" could have been a clever and
interesting character, much like Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto. (Can you
tell I've been watching Asian Images in Film on TCM?) But such
characters, though obviously presenting a much more positive image
than villains like Fu Manchu, are still limited, formed by
pre-conceived ideas. 

And a pre-conceived idea is exactly what the Good Slytherin was -- it
wasn't  based on any observed Slytherin, but on the emotional need  to
balance the assumption that other  Slytherins were somehow innately,
permanently and uniquely evil. But that assumption didn't need to be
balanced, IMO. It was shown to be false.

JKR could have indicated it was false by having a character say, "Wow,
I used to believe this but it wasn't true." But JKR's characters never
do that -- when they have a change of heart, even in response to
dramatic events, it happens slowly, almost imperceptibly, and the
character in question is often the last to notice. 

Gryffindor institutionalizes courage and chivalry the way Slytherin
institutionalized racism. IMO, that's not a biased observation either.

 By our standards (but not necessarily by the standards of the
Founders) that makes Gryffindor a superior house. But   stereotyping
based on that observation is unwise, for canon shows that Gryffindors
are not uniformly (McClaggan), uniquely (Snape), innately (Lupin), or
permanently (Pettigrew) brave and chivalrous.


Pippin